Dumb Things Fighters Have Done, Part Derp

Yesterday we pointed out that fighters can be dumb. Some of you agreed. Some of you were too scared of violent repercussions to agree, or even post a timid comment. To paraphrase the great Wallid Ismail, “You ees cheeken, you ees boolsheet.” Of course fighters can sometimes do dumb things! They get punched in the head for a living! We’d do dumb things too if our paychecks were dependent on how much blunt force trauma our domes can withstand!

Anyway, I went out and asked some more media types for examples of fighters doing dumb things. Note how these good lads weren’t too scared to comment. Yeah, that’s right. I’m looking at you.

Matt Kaplowitz of the Fight Nerd.com: “The dumbest thing a fighter has ever done was piss off the president of the United States of America. Jacob Volkmann wins this honor, not because he simply did the deed, but because he did it twice. The first offense was challenging President Obama to be his opponent for his next fight after UFC 125, calling the 44th Commander-in-Chief an ‘idiot’. Volkmann got himself a visit with the Secret Service for that one, as well as rude phone calls, nasty e-mails, and death threats (or what Dana White’s voicemail sounds like on a daily basis). Just to drive the point home that Volkmann is MMA’s Cartman… …he called out Obama once more after UFC 141, this time telling Joe Rogan that the Pres’ needs a ‘glassectomy’. Google image search that at your own risk. Volkmann had no fear of repercussions this time around, and seeing as how he managed to have three more fights with the UFC before being cut, he may have been right (Dana must have been busy cutting and re-hiring Miguel Torres while all that happened). Then again, considering his actions got him two weeks paid leave from his job as a high school wrestling coach (AKA vacation), maybe he was not so dumb after all. ‘Murica!”

Joe Lisnow of FightLine.com: “The most moronic moment I can recall in MMA is courtesy of Paul Daley. For him to blatantly suckerpunch Josh Koscheck after the fight still blows my mind. I get there’s tons of emotions and testosterone inside the Octagon, but that move tops the list of dumbness. He got fired and banned from the UFC for life due to his actions. On top of that, every promoter knows what kind of dirty moves Daley is capable of. A potential threat in the UFC’s welterweight division is simply a disgrace of the sport and shouldn’t be allowed to represent MMA.”

Mark Jacobs of Black Belt Magazine: “You know how difficult it is for me to be snarky Jim but I shall do my best. Probably I would say something like ‘You mean besides becoming a fighter?'”

Jorge Hernandez of MMAConvert.com: “The dumbest thing I have seen a fighter do in recent years is that ‘roid monkey Rousimar Palhares jumping onto the Octagon fence and calling his own victory when the referee hadn’t even stopped his fight with Dan Miller at UFC 134. It was in his home country of Brazil, and the crowd was going crazy, but Miller was still awake and trying to attack Palhares as he was celebrating on the fence. Then the look on Palhares’ face when he saw a half-conscious Miller trying to give his bazooka-sized biceps charlie horses. That one made me laugh for a while, and it was a good fight as well. Miller ended up knocking him down when they restarted. Palhares got the decision, but the mid-fight victory dance from Palhares was just something you don’t see very often.”